The first two rounds of Goulburn Murray Lawn Tennis finals action took place over the weekend, with three Kyabram Lawn Tennis Club teams hoping to punch tickets to the grand finals.
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GM3 Kyabram Redbacks 7-62 defeated Tatura Tornados 6-62
In what was a replay of round 15’s nail-biting win for the Redbacks, the Kyabram side took on a top of the table Tatura which was out for revenge.
The Redback men struggled early, dropping all three doubles, including two 8–2 losses and a much closer 8-7 tie break loss.
In the singles, Kyabram was able to stabilise by splitting the sets, with Xavier Dodos cancelling the number one singles loss with a strong 6-2 victory.
As has been the story of the season, Kyabram’s women stood tall and drew Kyabram back into the match.
Super sub Natasha Dodos was able to show her skill, partnering Lisa Walters to an 8-5 victory and then Marg Haw to an 8-1 domination.
Kyabram’s women were able to sweep their sets to give Kyabram a four-game lead going into the final four mixed doubles sets.
Tatura managed to win two of the first three mixed doubles, both with a score of 8-3 to give Tatura a six-game lead.
In what was a tense number two mixed doubles, experienced pair George Brega and Marg Haw managed to get over the line in a tiebreaker.
The brother-sister pairing of Xavier and Natasha Dodos managed to secure exactly what was needed with a dominant 8-3 victory to draw level on games with Tatura.
With Kyabram winning one more set for the day, this was enough for Kyabram to punch its ticket to the grand final.
Kyabram will take on Numurkah in what will be a grand final replay from last year’s decider after Numurkah was able to get over the line against Tatura on Sunday.
GM4 Open Tatura Twisters 8-69 defeated Kyabram 1-29
With several players out due to other commitments on Saturday, a depleted Kyabram side took on all-conquering Tatura.
Following the first round of matches, the contest was relatively close with Tatura holding a four-game lead, taking two of the first three sets.
Anthony Li and Michael Argaet managed to keep the match close with an 8-5 victory.
However, from there it was all one-way traffic, with Tatura sweeping the final six sets to take out a 40-game victory.
Missing arguably their top two contributors on the day, Max Hausler stepped in seamlessly and battled hard all day in what was an admirable effort.
The loss left Kyabram needing a win against third place Tongala to secure their spot in the grand final.
GM4 Open Kyabram 9–72 defeated Tongala 0-26
Following a tough loss on Saturday, Kyabram had to front up again against a Tongala side that had snuck by Numurkah by five games the day before.
With Evan Cooknell and Rebekah Lawson back in the side, the team was looking much stronger.
This proved to be the case as Kyabram went through the day without dropping a set.
A stand-out result was Scott Hausler and Li combining for an 8-0 victory.
Li continued this dominance, only dropping four games for the day, partnering Amy Harrison and Argaet to a pair of 8–2 victories.
Hausler also combined with Cooknell for an 8-2 victory.
Lawson then partnered Amy Harrison to a further 8-2 victory.
The win continues Kyabram’s fairytale run filled with players that are representing Kyabram Lawn for the first time in senior competition.
The win means a much stronger Kyabram will have a chance for revenge against Tatura in the grand final on Saturday, March 15.
GM2 Euroa Blue 7–68 defeated Kyabram 4-52
In the GM2 competition, Kyabram took on Euroa, which only just snuck into the finals with other results going their way.
The day started as a close and tense affair with Kyabram getting the better of Euroa in three out of the four singles matches with Regan More (6-1), Kade Starling (6-3) and Sheree Starling (6-4) all claiming victories.
However, in the doubles it was the opposite way around with only More and Mitchell Cox finding a way to get a victory 8-6.
This meant with four sets to go, the scores were level with a men’s doubles and three mixed sets to go.
Unfortunately, a dominant showing by Jai Harrington and Mark Borthwick winning 8-0 broke the back of Kyabram which went on to lose all three of the mixed doubles leading to a 16-game victory.
Euroa went on to win the final on Sunday as well to secure their place in the grand-final
Grand final to be held at Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club
With a jam-packed weekend of finals completed, the league will now take a quick reset over the Labour Day long weekend as several clubs will host tournaments.
The grand finals will then take place on Saturday, March 15 with the following match-ups for all the grades:
GM1: Shepparton Lawn Average Joes vs Numurkah Warriors
GM2: McEwen Reserve vs Euroa Blue
GM2 Open: Stanhope vs Euroa White
GM3 (4): Kyabram Redbacks vs Numurkah Penguins
GM3 (3): Euroa Red vs Euroa Green
GM4 Open: Tatura Twisters vs Kyabram Bombers
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